


Worst Trivia Night Ever

by pennflinn



Category: Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, One Shot, just nerds being nerds
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-13
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:35:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28056996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pennflinn/pseuds/pennflinn
Summary: Peter figures they might as well make the best of being trapped under a collapsed building.
Relationships: Ned Leeds & Peter Parker
Comments: 4
Kudos: 29





	Worst Trivia Night Ever

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know exactly what this is, other than an attempt at something resembling a shorter, lighter one-shot. Enjoy!

“This isn’t exactly how I pictured spending Friday evening,” Peter said. “Then again, I guess it’s hard to picture a collapsing building when you’re looking forward to pizza instead.”

He said it mostly for Ned’s benefit; his friend looked paralyzed with fear in the dim light of his phone flashlight. Dust still settled around them, beams creaking. Peter’s shoulders were the only thing keeping some of the rubble from crushing them entirely, and he was starting to feel the strain. He tried to brace himself more firmly. If he gave up or passed out, he and Ned were dead.

Ned himself had what they’d determined was a broken ankle and a large cut over one eye that was bleeding down the side of his face, but at least none of his injuries were life-threatening. Still, he shook his head for what felt like the hundredth time.

“God, Peter,” he said. “I don’t want to die down here. And I don’t want to die because you couldn’t hold up this building and then you blame yourself and I become some part of some tragic backstory that eventually inspires you to become a villain.”

“That’s not gonna happen,” Peter grunted. “Especially because if this building comes down, we’re probably both toast.”

Ned’s withering look was something normal, at least.

“But this building’s not coming down if I can stay focused,” Peter amended quickly. “We were supposed to be going to trivia night, right? So give me some trivia.”

Ned looked at him like he’d sprouted extra ears. “Trivia? Are you crazy? We’re about to be crushed to death, and you want to hold a trivia night?”

Peter huffed out. Something trickled down his neck — he hoped it was sweat and not blood. “Like I said, focusing on something other than the weight of a building is —  _ ow _ — important right now.”

Perhaps sensing the danger, Ned relented. “Okay, um… how about the year  _ Star Wars  _ was released?”

“Too easy,” Peter said. “1977. Give me something harder.”

“All of the release years?”

Peter rattled them off one by one, with Ned nodding approvingly at each.

“Alright, my turn,” Ned said. “Hit me.”

Peter wracked his brain for any kind of useful information. Most of his brain space was currently being taken up by panic, but he eventually landed on something.

“Which actor has played James Bond the most?”

“Trick question,” Ned said. “Are we counting  _ Never Say Never Again _ ?”

Peter paused. “I honestly don’t know.”

“It’s a tie between Connery and Moore if we are,” Ned said. “Moore takes it if we’re not.”

Peter raised an eyebrow. “I believe you, I guess. Another.”

“Um… how many Oscars did  _ Return of the King  _ win?”

The building shifted, forcing Peter to bow forward a little further. He accepted the weight with a gasp, then straightened up a fraction of an inch.

“It’s… uh, twelve?”

“Eleven,” Ned corrected him. “Focus up, Peter.”

“To be fair, I’ve only seen that movie once,” Peter said. “And I…” He let out a strained groan. “I don’t really watch the Oscars.”

“But it’s, like, a basic nerd fact,” Ned said. Peter didn’t miss the anxious looks Ned was giving him. “Do you know the movies it tied with for the most Oscars?”

Little black spots were erupting in Peter’s field of vision, but again he banished them. “ _ Titanic  _ and…  _ Ben Hur _ ?”

Ned gave a little fist-pump, wincing at the movement. “I knew you could get that. Three points for our team.”

“How does the scoring system work?”

“Everything’s made up and the points don’t matter,” Ned said. He paused. “Name that show?”

“Now you’re just insulting my intelligence,” Peter joked weakly. “How are we doing against the other teams?”

“Crushing them,” Ned said.

Peter strained upward. Okay, that was definitely sweat trickling down his face. It was salty in his eyes. “Kinda feels like the other way around right now if I’m being honest. Next question.”

He wasn’t sure how long they went on like this, passing questions back and forth. He did know that as the minutes ticked by, supporting the building was becoming harder and harder. He occasionally felt his eyes slipping closed, but each time it happened, Ned faithfully peppered him with another trivia question, and he willed his mind into gear again.

It was right around Ned’s more ridiculous questions — “Name five animal combinations that appear in  _ Avatar: The Last Airbender _ ” — that sounds of their rescuers cut through the darkness. The sounds of hammering, digging, shouting. Light sliced through the tiny space.

“Turtle duck,” he managed in a mumble, and that was the last thing he remembered before passing out.

When he came to, he was outside in the fresh air, and his muscles were seizing up like crazy, and someone was tapping his cheek. It was Happy — and thank God Happy was around, because how else would they explain a teenager holding up the weight of a building? — looking somehow both relieved and flustered. Ned was sitting nearby, holding a wad of bandages to his head.

“Did I say turtle duck?” Peter said blearily, to which Happy let out a confused “What?” and Ned responded with a smile.

“You did,” he said. He jostled Peter’s shoulder, which honestly hurt a little but was worth it, to be alive. “You did it, Peter. Who’s the best trivia team in town?”

Peter closed his eyes with a groan. “There are  _ more  _ questions?” he said, but he smiled all the same.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I always appreciate comments below.
> 
> Till next time,
> 
> Penn


End file.
